Before I start,
the club has added a fourth video update of the work. I was fortunate to have Mike Clayton and Ashley Mead show me around the front nine at Bonnie Doon today -- five months since they commenced work and six months before we'll be playing the new holes.
One of the great things about how much time these guys spend on site is how the holes have evolved in the dirt compared to what was planned. Such changes as the addition of some angle to the tee shot at the 1st, increase of distance between the fairway bunkers at the 3rd and drive strategy at the 9th have made those holes better.
Stage 1 includes the 1st, 3rd-6th, 9th, 18th and the practice facility. 3-6 are more or less shaped now and seeding has begun, while the bulk earthworks elsewhere are complete and I don't imagine it will be long before the other holes are in a somewhat complete state.
Here are some photos of the progress, along with "before" pics where I have them.
1st - long par four (about 420-435m)Mining was carried out here to provide sand for the new holes on the old tip site, and the resulting excavation has been utilised as a diagonal driving hazard that is also in play on the adjacent 9th. It will be mostly be filled with ankle to knee-high heath plants and some sandy areas. Cutting the height out of the ridge that used to cross the fairway makes the drive play somewhat downhill and means that while measuring about 435m, it's a two shot hole especiually for better players.
3rd - short par four (about 270-290m)This hole has been revolutionised into a stunning short par four with options galore, changeable strategy driven by pin location and a tricky green. The extensiuon of a ridge about 170m from the tee creates a real and attractive option to lay back.
The knob in the centre of the below pic really makes the hole fascinating. Anything left of it will settle and have a great angle in for the approach, while the sloping land right of it will feed the ball downhill and in behind the fairway and greenside bunkers, not to mention at a poor angle for the shaping of the green. Note also the room between the short bunkers (about 200m from the tee) for a drive to run up the hill.
The attractive angle from the left-hand side of the lay-up:
A before shot of the approach from the bottom of the hill, it didn't really matter which side you were on:
And how it looks now, showing that there is now a genuine good and bad side:
The green from the front left:
4th - mid/long par three (about 150-170m)The new green on this semi-blind par three is much larger and somewhat further right than the old one -- a tremendous improvement, but still hugging up against a cool natural saucer of sandy scrub that provides an awkward recovery if you miss the green right. The green slopes predominantly front right to back left, but there is also a back right pin over a small ridge that will ask for a towering fade (in case Nicklaus ever comes to play the course!). A major improvement is ther removal of the hedges and gardens that ringed the tee previously, clashing with the wild natural vegetation, and the burning of said vegetation, and hopefully going forward it will be kept low as a ground covering at knee-high or lower, leaving the green obscured, but not blind.
5th - mid/long par five (about 500m)A great split fairway feature inside 100m has been built to team with a boomerang green with a bunker in its "mouth" -- and the green shaping means you really want to be on the same side as the pin. Par fives with a genuine decision to be made on the second shot are rare, and this is great for the fact that the yardages involved are such that most golfers should be able to pull off the shots required to access either section of fairway.
The lighter sand to the right is part of the practice fairway and will be OOB, so the drive is more left han it seems.
Showing a knob/ridge in the centre of the fairway that, ideally, it seems you'll want to track left of for the best position to choose either the left or right fairway near the green.
The low area that runs through the centre of this pic will mostly be heath, other than the formed bunkering at the green, so the second shot going left will need to be far left to a tongeu of fairway connected to the 3rd fairway.
6th - short par three (about 120-130m)A great short iron hole with a wild green that features four or five pinnable shelves and pockets, which generally step of a central slope running front left to back right. There's room to tuck pins right and back left and have some real fun with a player hitting a short iron or wedge.
The land before sandcapping and construction (from behind the green):
And now:
From the forward tee, set 40m right of the back tee:
Left of the green (from the 3rd tee):
9th - short par five (about 450m)The hole plays short on the scorecard, but with a drive landing zone that is uphill, killing the run, and a small, vicious green flanked by scrubby, sandy depressions, it feels like a three-shot hole. The large excavation that will be sandy and heathy is the same hazard you drive over at the 1st hole. The green is between the dozer and the white fence, under the UNSW building.
The new holes are simply fantastic -- full of options and decisions to be made, fun greens, room for running approaches, smart bunkering, elasticity in the design depending on wind and tee position, beautiful shaping blending the found and the built... March 31, 2012, can't come quickly enough.